Post-Ellis (Warriors 105, Cavs 95)

The Warriors 105-95 road victory over an upstart Cleveland team was a nice continuation of an adjustment that began in the win against Detroit. The Warriors won this game without Monta Ellis making a meaningful offensive contribution — let alone dominating the ball. They didn’t stand around waiting for Ellis to produce and Ellis, to his credit, didn’t keep forcing up shots hoping something would go down. Instead, the Warriors won their second straight road game thanks to a deep team performance and aggressive, opportunistic, efficient play. On the road, it’ll be a winning recipe more games than not.

Tuesday’s win wasn’t pretty, but for a team starved for consistent road play as long as I can remember, there was a lot to love. It’s a credit to what Mark Jackson and Mike Malone are currently doing that there’s an increasing sense of continuity from game to game. The things that worked well in Detroit reappeared against Cleveland — Lee worked over a weak defensive power forward, the defensive bench squad of Rush, McGuire and Udoh knocked an opponent out of its rhythm, Wright attacked the basket, and Biedrins threw his body around to create more opportunities. For fanbases not as traumatized as the Warriors’ die-hards, these signs of game-to-game improvement would be hailed as progress. I’ve been burned about sixteen too many times to start celebrating quite yet, but there’s no question the past two games have been a positive response to the clunker that kicked off the trip in Charlotte.

What was most encouraging for me in the win was the Warriors efficiency in getting good shots despite a horrible offensive night from Ellis (who is hopefully ok after suffering a nasty late-game elbow to the face). Draw your own conclusions as to whether Ellis’ low 32-minute night — including a 10 minute break spanning the third and early fourth quarters — had anything to do with the efficient offensive output (Ellis had 4 of the Warriors’ season-low 12 turnovers). What is obvious is that the Warriors weren’t just standing around waiting for Ellis to produce. During his struggles and in his increasingly frequent trips to the bench, the team is finding other ways to generate offense. 63% of the Warriors’ baskets were assisted — a great percentage by NBA standards. The team looks like it’s starting to gel a bit, and move the ball more crisply as a result. David Lee has been the main beneficiar. He’s looked absolutely tremendous finishing around the rim the past week. He’s working hard to aggressively attack the basket and finishing some really difficult shots. Credit to Lee for making a positive adjustment in his offensive game, and to Jackson and the Warriors’ half-court offense for repeatedly going back to him given the lack of adjustment by the Cavs on defense. Lee’s offensive resurgence has taken the sting out of Curry’s absence and Ellis’ struggles.

But the improvement goes beyond Lee — there’s a revolving cast of bench performers showing they can step up when needed. Rush again hit his share of big shots, Robinson had a relatively efficient night and even Klay Thompson delivered some big baskets in the flow of the offense when the Warriors were struggling for points. The unifying theme to all of these supporting performances is the energy and focus their bringing to their limited minutes. Jackson is calling their numbers and they’re finding ways to contribute. For the second game in a row, the Warriors used this type of team-based basketball to win the type of game they’ll need to win on the road if they ever hope to be in the playoff mix.

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Some scattered thoughts — good and bad — on an encouraging win:

The Warriors’ third-quarter was saved by the defensive-focused bench unit led by Rush, McGuire and Udoh. For the second game in a row the reserves knocked the home team out of rhythm with hard, aggressive defense, then used that defense to score some easy transition baskets and generate a run. The limited offensive output on the bench squad eventually has diminishing returns (I love McGuire’s defense, intensity and rebounding, but he should never be taking 7 shots), and both the Pistons and Cavs clawed their way back towards he end of the bench-squads minutes. But Jackson has shown a good sense in recognizing when the bench’s run is spent, switching back to the more offensively focused starters to continue the momentum with a bit more firepower. It worked like a charm Tuesday, with the bench mob slowing down Jamison and stopping an ugly 11-0 run that the starters suffered in the beginning of the third quarter. Basketball is a game of chemistry, and right now the Warriors’ coaching staff seems to be putting the right guys on the floor at the right time to win games.

The man of the hours in the fourth quarter wasn’t David Lee (although his offensive production was crucial), it was Andris Biedrins. In a now-rare fourth quarter appearance, Biedrins was seemingly everywhere — using his quickness to keep alive missed shots, protecting the rim to deny easy penetration, and making sure the ball moved quickly up court following a rebound. There are teams that would have fouled Biedrins intentionally before the final two minutes to force him off the court, but the Cavs decided to play it straight. In hindsight, it was a mistake, as Biedrins provided an unexpected spark during the crunch time period when the Warriors had struggled so much before this most recent trip. I’m not sure we can expect these types of fourth quarters consistently from Biedrins, but it was still awfully nice to see.

Unfortunately, Udoh’s night was almost the opposite of Biedrins’ stand-out performance. Although Udoh looked slightly more put together during his second-half run, his first half minutes were a disaster. Semih Erden repeatedly broke him down in the post. Udoh fumbled away at least four rebounds by my count. His point-blank, unguarded, facing-the-basket lay-up brick was pretty much indicative of his overall productivity during the stretch. I was encouraged to see Udoh show some fight against Monroe on Sunday. I just wish he hadn’t left his entire game in Detroit.

Brandon Rush and Klay Thompson put themselves in position to succeed against the Cavs — moving without the ball to find their favorite spots on the floor and open looks. Nate Robinson and David Lee did particularly nice jobs of rewarding them for their efforts. The Warriors’ two highest scorers didn’t let the ball die in their hands. Robinson showed great aggressiveness, probing the defense to draw attention and create open looks. Lee was extremely decisive with the ball, either initiating his move or swinging it quickly to an open man. This is how offenses are supposed to work, with players creating quality looks for each other, not simply going one-against-the-world on every possession.

I wouldn’t rule out a let-down game against the Nets on Wednesday. The Warriors may, in the back of their heads, consider a 2-2 road trip a success and start looking prematurely towards a return to the Oracle on Friday. But then again, given the quality basketball played by the team as a whole over the past 8 quarters, they might have a burst of momentum to close out the trip. While road victories have been elusive for this team, games like the win over the Cavs show that there’s a relatively simple way to remain competitive. When the Warriors keep their mistakes to a minimum and get as many of their teammates involved as possible, they can be opportunistic — exploiting their opponent’s lapses (and there were many by the Cavs) even when their own players aren’t at the top of their games. While I’d never wish for a bad offensive night from Ellis, the sight of the Warriors winning despite it — instead of losing a game in which Ellis puts up big numbers — is a new and welcome development.

Adam Lauridsen

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“I wouldn’t rule out a let-down game against the Nets on Wednesday. The Warriors may, in the back of their heads, consider a 2-2 road trip a success and start looking prematurely towards a return to the Oracle on Friday.”

This statement ended up being true unfortunately…

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